Updating zone and record data

 

DNS record data is stored in standard "zone files" (ASCII based text files), located in the directory specified in the Options dialog / DNS / Local Zones / Data files section.
To examine the file layout, you can open the files generated by Simple DNS Plus with notepad (see RFC1035 for exact specifications).

Typically each zone has its own zone file named "<zone-name>.dns" (ie: "example.com.dns").

 

The same directory contains the zone database file "_zones.sdzdb" which controls which zones are loaded by Simple DNS Plus and hold various status information about the zones.
The zone database can be examined using the "ZoneDBViewer.exe" application found in the Tools directory.
If programming with .NET, you can also read the zone database using the "SDNSFileLib.dll" library also found in the Tools directory.

 

The same directory also contains the "_zonegroups.xml" configuration file which lists zone groups (from the DNS Records window zone folder list).

 

There are several options for making Simple DNS Plus load new or updated zone files "on the fly":

 

Command line

You can tell Simple DNS Plus to reload one or all zone files by using one of the command line options.

 

HTTP API

Simple DNS Plus can be prompted to perform a number of actions through HTTP - either directly from a browser, or any other program that can communicate through HTTP.

See How to use HTTP API.

 

API for .NET and COM

The "Simple DNS Plus API for .NET and COM" is a code library which greatly simplifies and streamlines interacting with and updating data in Simple DNS Plus. It makes it possible to deal with DNS data as simple objects and eliminates the need to work with and understand the intricacies of DNS master files (a.k.a. zone files).

This can be done from any .NET or COM based application or dynamic web-site including ASP.NET, classic ASP, PHP, VB.NET, C#, Delpi, VBScript, JScript, etc.

It can be used on a separate computer (controlling Simple DNS Plus remotely), and is therefore available as a separate download.

See http://www.simpledns.com/addons.aspx

 

 

Updating options/settings

 

The various settings from the Simple DNS Plus Options dialog are stored in a "sdnsplus.config.xml" file in the application data directory.

 

On Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, this location is typically:

C:\ProgramData\JH Software\Simple DNS Plus

 

On earlier Windows versions:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\JH Software\Simple DNS Plus

 

If you update the "sdnsplus.config.xml" file outside of Simple DNS Plus, you can reload it using command line options (-O).

 

You can also retrieve and update this file through the HTTP API "getconfig" / "updateconfig" commands.

 

Settings from other modules / dialogs are also stored in XML files in the same directory.

 

 

Extending Simple DNS Plus through plug-ins

 

Simple DNS Plus has an open plug-in architecture. For details see KB1281.

 

 

Locating the Simple DNS Plus directory

 

Simple DNS Plus installer records the installation path in the registry "Path" value under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JH Software\Simple DNS Plus